Condenser



Feb. 12 1924. 1,483,599

H. F. SCHMIDT CONDENSER Original Filed Feb. .20. 1920 INVENTOR. Henry F Schmidt Patent Feb. 12, 1924.

ELECTRIC 3 7" UFACTUNG COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONDENSER.

Application filed February 20, 1920, Serial No. 880,188. Renewed April 20, 1921. Serial No. 462,998.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY F. SCHMIDT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Swarthmore, in the county of Delaware a and State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Condensers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to condensing apparatus and particularly to condensers of the 10 surface type and it has for its object to pro-.

vide a compact form of apparatus of the character specified and one wherein the fluid to be condensed, passes through a short path of cross-section proportional to the volume thereof, the condensable fluid and the non-condensable residue being efl'ectively separated and the condensate being operative to cool the incoming condensable fluid. There are certain principles of condenser construction that have been found to produce the best obtainable results, that is, con densers' having a short flow through the cooling tube nests offer the least resistance to the passage of fluid to be condensed, and

therefore the difference in pressure between the point of complete condensation and the fluid inlet to the condenser is held to a minimum, and the best distribution of cooling surface is obtained in condensers having diminishing or converging condensing area from the inlet toward the point of complete condensation within the condenser. I have further found that the ejector for the noncondensable fluids operates with improved efliciency when the density of the fluid is in creased by cooling prior to its assage to the ejector, and that the eneral e ciency of the condenser is increase by subjecting the condensate as it rains from the tube nest to direct contact with the incoming steam.

I In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic transverse section through a condenser embodying the features of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section thereof.

Referring to the drawing, the condenser illustrated includes a shell comprising a semi-circular bottom portion 2 and a pair of upwardly converging upper walls 3, which meet at a joint irectly over the center of the semi-circular wall 2 and between two fiuidinlets 4, disposed on opposite sides of the condenser shell. The fluid inlets 4 are each provided with an expansion joint 5,

which is adapted to connect directly with an exhaust passage 6 of the turbine or apparatus served by the condenser. It will be noted that the upwardly converging upper walls of the condenser shell extend above the inlet passages 4 and into the space between the expansion joints 5, thereby advantageously utilizing the space available between these joints for condenser apparatus. i

As shown, the shell is provided with a nest of cooling tubes of the double-pass type. These tubes extend longitudinally of the shell and are divided into an upper group A receiving the first pass of water and a lower group 13 receiving the second pass of water. The arrangement of the headers for circulating the water through the tubes is well known in the art and need not be described in'detail. As shown in Fig. 2, water box 12 is divided by means of partition 13 into inlet and outlet compartments 14 and 15, having inlet and outlet connections 16 and 17, respectively, and water box 18 is of the usual return flow structure. The arrangement is such in this case that the cold water entering the water box 12 first passes through the upper group A and then throughthe lower group B and. out of the condenser.

The cooling tubes are arranged to fill the angular upper portion of the condenser and extend downwardly in the form of a semicircle into the space formed by the semicircular shell 2. The centers of curvature of the lower portion of the tube nest and of the condenser shell are disposed eccentrically with respect to one another and therefore the steam space 7 between the condenser shell and the tube nest diminishes in sectional area and capacity from the inlet 4 to the lower part of the shell. The steam spaces are, however, of sufficient capacity to supply the nest with substantially uniform quantities of steam throughout the exposed area of the nest.

The non-condensable fluid ofitake 8 is located at the oint of convergence of the up per walls of the condenser and therefore steam entering the inlets 4 flows in radial directions from the exposed surface of the tube nest toward the air oiftake 8, first encountering the warmer tubes in the group B and finally encountering the cooler tubes in the group A. It will be noted that the fluid or steam encounters a diminishing number of tubes as it progresses toward the air offtake, the cooling area being substantially proportional to the quantity of steam passmg the tubes. This arrangement has the advantage that only the actual number of tubes required to accomplish complete condensationare disposed in the path of the steam and therefore the obstruction to steam flow is reduced to a minimum.

Inasmuch as the air is drawn off at the part of the condenser and its density is therefore increased. For this reason, the ejector serving the condenser operates more efliciently wit the result that an operating economy is obtained.

The hot well 10 of the condenser is located at the bottom of the shell, directly beneath the nest of tubes. Condensate raining from the tube nest passes throught the hot incoming steam in the steam space 7 and absorbs the heat thereof with the result that steam is condensed by the falling condensate and the temperature of the condensate is raised to approximatel the temperature of the incoming ste'am. a still further economy where the condensate is used for feed water purpose.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so, limited but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A condenser comprising a shell and-- fluid olf-take between the said inlet passages his action results in was es and above the nest of tubes,'and a condensate discharge port in the bottom of the shell beneath the tubes.

3. A condenser comprising a shell having its upper walls converging upward and having inlet-passages adapted to admit fluid to opposite sides of the shell, a nest of tubes within the shell extending into the converging upper portion and below the intake passages, and a non-condensable fluid off-take in the upper portion above the nest of tubes.

4. condenser'comprising a shell having its upper walls converging upward and having in ct passages adapted to admitfluid to opposite sides of the shell, a nest of tubes within the shell extending into the converging upper portion and below the intake p'assages, a non-condensable fluid off-take in the upper portion above the nest of tubes, and interleaved baffles adjacent the fluid oil-take adapted to lengthen the path of flow of the fluids from the side inlet passages to the fluid ofi-t'ake.

5. A condenser comprising a shell having its upper Walls converging upward and having an inlet passage below the converging walls, and air oii-take adjacent the point of convergence of the upper w'alls, and a nest of tubes in the converging portion of the shell disposed between the said fluid inlet and the said air OE-take.

6. A condenser comprising a shell having its upper walls conver ing upward and having an inlet passage elow the converging walls, an air oil-take adjacent the point of convergence of the upper walls, a nest of tubes in the converging portion of the shell disposed between the said fluid inlet and the said air ofi-take, and interleaved bafiles adjacent the airoif-take arranged to lengthen the course of the flow of fluid from the inlet a passage to the fluid off-take.

7. A condenser comprising a shell having a semi-circular bottom portion and an upper section provided with a pair of fluid inlets, a nest of tubes within the shell disposed between the said fiuid inlets and forming steam passages between the nest and the shell, communicating with the inlets and diminishing in capacity from the inlets toward the bottom of the shell, and a non-condensible fluid off-take located in the upper portion ofthe shell and between the said inlets.

8. A condenser comprising a shell having a semi-circular bottom wall and upwardly converging up er walls, and provided with a air of fluid inlets disposed at opposite si es of the shell, a nest of tubes within the shell having its lower portion formed in a semi-circular group spaced from the lower wall of the shell and forming a fluid passage between the lower portion of the nest and the lower wallof the shell, communicating with said inlets, the upper portion of the said nest being shaped to conform with the take at the upper portion of the tube nest.

converging up or wall of the shell, and a non-condensab e fluid off-take in the upper part of the shell above the nest of tubes.

9. A condenser comprising a shell having a semi-circular bottom portion and a converging upper portion, steam intakes below the conver ing portions, a non-condensable fluid ofl-ta e adjacent the point of convergence of the upper walls, firstand secondpass cooling tubes in the condenser, said second-pass tubes being arcuately disposed eccentrically to the bottom portion whereby radial flow of fluids is assured.

10. A condenser comprising a shell and a nest of tubes within the shell, means for admitting a'fluid to be condensed to a side of the tube nest and a non-condensable fluid ofl'take at the upper portion of the tube nest.

11. A condenser comprising a shell having inlet passages terminating at the opposite sides of the shell, a nest of. tubes within the shell having a portion of the tubes extending upwardly from the ends of said inlet passages, and a non-condensable fluid 0E- 12. A condenser comprising a shell and a nest of tubes within the shell, a non-condensable fluid ofltake located at the upper portion and centrally of the tube nest, a pair of inlet passages within the shell adapted to direct fluid downwardly to the opposite sides.

of the tube nest and so disposed that the direction of travel of fluid through the tube nest is essentially upward toward the noncondensable gas ofl'take.

13. A condenser comprising a shell and a nest of tubes within the shell, the upper portion of the tube nestconveging toward the top of the condenser, inlet passages adapted to admit fluid to the tube nest from opposite sides. and below the converging portion of the tube nest and a non-condensable fluid ofltake at the upper portion of the tube nest.

. condensable fluid ofl'take in the upper part of the shell at the apex of the converging portion of the tube nest.

15. A condenser comprisin a shell having a semicircular bottom portion, a nest of tubes within the shell having its lower portion in the form of a semicircular group spaced from and eccentrically disposed with relation to the bottom of the shell, inlet passages adapted to direct fluid to the opposite sides of the tube nest and into the space between the lower portion of the tube nest and the bottom of the shell, and a non-condensable fluid ofi'take at the upper portion of the shell.

16. A condenser comprisin a shell having a semicircular bottom portion, a nest of tubes within the shell having its lower portion in the form of a semicircular group spaced from the bottom of the shell, inlet passages adapted to direct fluid to the opposite sides of the tube nest and into the space between the lower portion of the tube nest and the bottom of the shell, and a noncondensable fluid offtake at the upper portion of the shell.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of February, 1920.

NRY F. SCHMIDT. 

